The author CN Subramanyam comes to mind as an observant man. He is a person who is affected and jostled by his past and hence he digs into it, hoping to skim out some finer details. But being of the present generation, there is a modern edge to his short story.
The author does not believe that men were the only ones who could fight the survival race with animals; he does not write so directly, but moulds a conversation between his ‘two friends’ effectively planting doubt in the minds of his readers and forcing them to wonder how the women of that era contributed to the establishment and management of their society. He looks at several paintings to find a series of answers coming to him, as when he comes to know of their abilities to collect honey, catch fish, prepare food and medicines.
He does not dismiss the question presented by his friend Shakeela, about what the women did while the men hunted. He ponders over it. Though it is impossible to pester someone for answers, he keeps his eyes open; he tries to decipher from paintings, the routine of women of the olden times. Years later, when the author is all grown up, he still remembers the question his friend asked him when he was a child and finally after a lot of effort and research, finds answers.
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